THIS week I received the sad news that Jesuit Father Georges De Schrijver had died while teaching at the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.
Georges had been my mentor and since 1984, when I first arrived as a student from Rome to Leuven in Belgium. He supervised my Doctorate Sacred Theology in Sacred Theology and my PhD in Christianity and Contemporary Culture, a study broadly based on the theology of Edward Schilleebeeckx and the use of hermeneutics (theory of interpretation). These were published in 1992 and 1994 respectively.
He was unwell for a short time and had been encouraged since October 5 to report to the Jesuit infirmary. However, he procrastinated for a while and on October 10 was sent to the ICU unit of Medical City, Manila, where he died of a heart condition caused by Pneumonia and sepsis.
He had many past students in the Philippines, loved the country and its people and asked to be buried in the Jesuit Sacred Heart cemetery.
In Belgium such scholars are known as our “Doctoral Fathers” because they incubate their ideas through the extensive process and gaining our degrees. But Georges was special. He was a fine man, advocating the rights of the poor and the environment; a good priest but not in the traditional understanding.
He lived alone in an apartment and worked tirelessly for the University until his retirement in 2001. And he was a friend with a versatile mind, quick wit and slightly dour critical temperament. We feared him at times and we loved him. May he rest in peace.